Monthly makes: November 2021

I actually had this post ready to go the 2nd of December, I just totally forgot to publish it. Things are always very hectic at the end of the year. The month of November I definitely got more done then I thought. I had several projects that had a deadline in the month of November and I really tried to work on those first, but sometimes I kind of also got really distracted by other pretty things. The first deadline that was due was to finish everything for the workshop I was giving at the get together of the Dutch Modern Quilt gilde. It was my first time attending and I was a bit nervous for both meeting everyone and hosting a workshop. But in the end it was so much fun and there were so many great results. My workshop was themed MINI and we made a little house, either using improv, traditional piecing, or my favorite, English paper piecing. I also made a little goody bag with the patterns and some cute fabric sponsored by Irene from Sugaridoo.

The next deadline I really had to work one, was finishing my 6 blocks for the round robin. In the end my back gave me a lot of problems and I didn't finish on time, but luckily I got some help from a friend and the next in line didn't mind that I was running a bit late. So thanks to both Irene and Kety it all come together in the end. I did had a lot of fun with designing this little block for one of the quilts that is going round, I can't wait to see all the quilts come together.

So this month I also joined #finishfeestje2021, I've talked about this earlier in a previous blog. It is really helping me to get some finishes. So in November the following things changed on my WIP-list.

- I started 4 new projects (woops).

- I decided that I'm gonna throw out 2 very old work in progresses.

- I had 5 finishes ( 2 of these were new projects I started in November)

I finished 5 projects, a cute little fox embroidery that will be a gift to a little boy, 2 table runners, one is a gift for my mum and one will be our winter table runner for the living room, my #100hexies project you can read al about in this blog and of course my pattern and workshop.

For the winter table runner, I decided to add some handquilting to make the English paper pieced flowers pop even more. I made them by sewing together some pentagons to create a flower of some kind, or a wreath, depending on how you look at it. The flower table runner was a gift for my mums new craft room. She really likes plants, flowers and blue, so I'm hoping she will really love it.

So my WIP-list got done to 32 projects at the end of November. I don't think I will reach my goal of getting the list under 20 projects, but I am sure I will be able to get below 30. So a little bit more about the projects I decided I'm never gonna finish. One was a quilt, I moved it with me several times over the last few years and each time it got put in the bottom of a box. I don't like the fabrics I choose, there are a lot of mistakes in the pattern. It just wasn't bringing me any joy anymore. So I decided to see it as a learning project, I learned so much from it, but it was time to say goodbye. The second project I threw out was a macramé project, it got really tangled up, there was damage. And more important even, the design I was trying wasn't working. So again a lot of lessons learned, but it's been thrown out.

And when I say thrown out, of course I had a look to see if I could salvage as many materials as possible for future projects.

The final thing I was working on in November was the #DutchMQGswap, we are having a 12 days of Christmas swap with members of our quilt gilde. We give each other hints about favorite colors, quilt books, a suggestion for a handmade gift and then we get sewing. The goal is to have a minimum of 3 handmade gifts and to buy some small gifts you think your swap partner will like.

Sanne